1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet-supply cassette, and an image recording apparatus, such as a printer, a copier, or a facsimile machine, that includes a sheet-supply cassette.
2. Discussion of Related Art
There has been known a sheet-supply cassette that is employed by an image recording apparatus such as a printer, a copier, or a facsimile machine and supplies, one by one, a plurality of cut recording sheets each as a recording medium. The sheet-supply cassette includes a main member in which a plurality of cut recording sheets are horizontally stacked on each other so that the top one of the stacked cut sheets is fed by a sheet-feed roller pressed against it; and an inclined, sheet-separate plate which is provided in a downstream end portion of the main member as seen in a sheet-feed direction in which each cut sheet is fed. A leading end of each cut sheet being fed is engaged with a front surface of the sheet-separate plate so that the each cut sheet is separated from the other cut sheets and is fed forward.
In the above-described conventional sheet-supply cassette, the sheet-separate plate is provided in the downstream end portion of the main member, such that the entirety of the sheet-separate plate is inclined. Therefore, the entire length of the leading end of each cut sheet being fed simultaneously engages the front surface of the sheet-separate plate, thereby receiving too great a frictional resistance. In particular, in the case where a thick cut sheet is fed, the thick cut sheet may not be smoothly curved by the front surface of the sheet-separate plate and accordingly the feeding of the thick cut sheet may fail.
In the above-described background, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-173240 had proposed a sheet-supply cassette including a main member; a plurality of inclined sheet-separate plates that are provided on an inner surface of a side wall of the main member that is located on a downstream end of the main member as seen in a sheet-feed direction, such that the inclined sheet-separate plates are distant from each other in a widthwise direction of each cut recording sheet; and a plurality of pairs of inclined sheet-guide plates which have respective inclined sheet-guide surfaces. Each pair of inclined sheet-guide plates are provided on either side of a corresponding one of the inclined sheet-separate plates in the widthwise direction, and the inclined sheet-guide plates cooperate with each other to guide a plurality of portions of the leading end of each cut sheet that do not contact the inclined sheet-separate plates. Thus, the sheet-supply cassette allows each cut recording sheet to be fed while the leading end portion thereof is smoothly curved in an upward direction without being damaged.
However, in the sheet-supply cassette disclosed by the above-indicated document, the inclined sheet-separate plates and the inclined sheet-guide plates are spaced from each other in the widthwise direction of each cut recording sheet. Therefore, the leading end of each cut sheet may be abruptly bent, or may be damaged, at the boundary between each of those plates and a vacant space adjacent to the each plate.